Thermocouple apparatus

ABSTRACT

A thermocouple for attachment to a burner. The thermocouple has a mounting portion and an adapter thereon engageable with the burner. The adapter and the mounting portion are yieldably restrained against relative sliding movement to facilitate adjustment of the thermocouple relative to the burner flame.

United States Patent 72] Inventor Edwin A. Thompson Irvine, Calif.

[21] Appl. No. 717,588

22 Filed Apr. 1,1968

[45] Patented Nov. 16, 1971 [73] Assignee Rohertshaw Controls Company Richmond, Va.

[54] THERMOCOUPLE APPARATUS 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 136/217, 136/230 [51] 1nt.Cl 601k 7/02 [50] Field of Search ..136/217-220, 221, 230, 235, 242, 228

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,522,107 7/1970 Kenyon 136/217 2,161,432 6/1939 Rees.... 136/230 X 2,410,098 10/1946 Muller. 136/235 X 2,430,887 11/1947 Ray 136/217 X 2,474,547 6/1949 Patch 136/219 X 3,056,450 10/1962 Loveland et a1. 136/217 X 3,290,178 12/1966 Loveland 136/217 X Primary ExaminerCarl D. Quarforth Assistant Examiner-Harvey E. Behrend Attorney-Fulwider, Patton, Rieber, Lee & Utecht ABSTRACT: A thermocouple for attachment to a burner. The thermocouple has amounting portion and an adapter thereon engageable with the burner. The adapter and the mounting portion are yieldably restrained against relative sliding movement to facilitate adjustment of the thermocouple relative to the burner flame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to gas-fired burners and a thermocouple control therefor.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art, as exemplified by US. Pat. Nos. 2,610,984 and No. 3,184,337, recognizes the desirability of properly orienting the thermocouple with respect to the flame issuing from the pilot burner and accomplishes this result by means of a unitary mounting bracket. The prior art structures have resulted in the manufacture of a wide variety of thermocouple-pilot mounting assemblies so that, when it is necessary to replace a thermocouple, only the same type of thermocouple by the same manufacturer may be used as a replacement. While making a service call for a defective thermocouple, the Serviceman is required to carry a large inventory of replacement thermocouples. In addition, the usual location of the thennocouple adjacent the pilot burner in the burner box of furnace does not present suitable working area for tool manipulation by the serviceman in attaching and detaching the thermocouple.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a major object of the present invention to provide a thermocouple that may be quickly nd easily adjusted with respect to the burner upon which it is mounted.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a thermocouple of the aforedescribed nature which eliminates the problems of the prior art devices in that a serviceman need only carry a small number of thermocouples.

It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a thermocouple for use with a burner having a mounting member that receives such thermocouple and is formed with internal threads, with the thermocouple including a mounting portion upon which is disposed an adapter formed with external threads engageable with the internal threads of the burner mounting member and with friction means being carried by the adapter to define an operative connection between the adapter and the thermocouple-mounting portion whereby the adapter and mounting portion are yieldably restrained against relative sliding movement. This arrangement permits the adapter to be screwed onto the burner and thereafter the thermocouple may be readily adjusted relative to the adapter and hence to the burner so as to be properly positioned with respect to the flame issuing from the burner.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TH E DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevational view of a thermocouple-pilot burner assembly showing a preferred form of thermocouple embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken in enlarged scale along line 22 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 3 is a vertically exploded perspective view of the adapter member of said thermocouple;

FIG. d is a side elevational view showing a first step in mounting said thermocouple on said pilot burner; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing a later step in the mounting of said thermocouple upon said pilot burner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. ll there is shown a preferred form of thermocouple T embodying the present invention in assembled and operative relation with a conventional pilot burner P. The pilot burner P includes a barrellike body, generally designated 10, having its intermediate portion affixed to the horizontal arm of a mounting bracket 11. The mounting bracket Ill also supports a coupling 12 for a conduit 14, with an elbow 16 interconnecting the coupling 12 and the upper interior portion of the burner body 10. The end of the conduit 14 remote from the bracket II is connected to a source of fuel in a manner well known in the art.

Referring now to the remaining drawings, the thermocouple T is of elongated, generally cylindrical configuration having a smooth tip 20 below which is defined a mounting portion 22, such mounting portion being formed with external screw threads. The lower portion of the thermocouple T is provided with a cable connector 24 for attachment to a suitable thermocouple appliance (not shown) in a conventional manner.

The mounting portion 22 of the thermocouple T is provided with an adapter, generally designated 30. As best illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the adapter 30 includes a retainer washer 32 which is disposed within the sidewalls of a downwardly opening annular base 36. Friction means in the form of a flexible detent element such as a generally C-shaped spring clip 37 is retained within the upper portion of hollow base 36 by the retainer washer 32. The latter is held to base 36 by spaced tabs 38 punched in from the peripheral edge of the lower edge of the base, as shown in FIG. 2. Spring 37 is formed with a chordal terminus 37a. The base 36 is knurled to facilitate its manipulation. An upwardly extending boss 40 integral with the base 36 is externally threaded to fit complementary internal threads 42 formed on the lower portion of the burner body I0, as shown best in FIG. 2.

In the following description of the operative relationship of the above-described thermocouple T and the pilot burner P, it should be understood that the thermocouple T of the present invention could be utilized with any type of conventional pilot burner so long as such burner includes a body formed with internal threads to receive the thermocouple adapter 30. The thermocouple of the present invention is particularly adapted for use with pilot burners so constructed that it is difficult to effect attachment of the thermocouple except at a point thereon remote from the tip of the thermocouple.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the thermocouple T is inserted through the lower end of the body 10 of pilot burner P, as indicated by the directional arrow. At this time the adapter 30 may be arranged in its lowermost position relative to the mounting portion 22 of the thermocouple. Next, as indicated in FIG. 5, the thermocouple tip 20 is arranged in proper operative vertical alignment with the flame which will issue from the top of the pilot burner body 10. The adapter 30 is then moved upwardly along the thermocouple-mounting portion 22 and its boss 36 threadedly engaged with the internal threads 42 of the burner body 10. If necessary, final burner adjustment of the thermocouple tip 20' relative to the flame which will issue from the pilot burner I may then be made by urging the thermocouple-mounting portion 22 either upwardly or downwardly relative to the adapter 30. The moving force required to effect such movement need only be large enough to overcome the friction force of the chordal terminus 37a against the external threads of the mounting portion 22. It will be apparent that mounting and adjusting of the thermocouple upon the pilot burner P may be effected quickly and easily even by an unskilled worker and does not require the use of special tools.

As an alternative to the above-described arrangement for mounting and adjusting the thermocouple T upon the pilot burner P, the adapter boss 30 may be first threaded into the lower end of the burner body I0 and the thermocouple thereafter slid vertically relative to the adapter into the desired vertical alignment with the flame to issue from the burner.

Various modifications and changes may be made with respect to the foregoing detailed description, without departing from the spirit of the present invention or the scope of the following claims.

lclaim:

l. A thermocouple and burner arrangement having a burner mounting member for said thermocouple formed with a bore having internal threads at the lower pontion thereof, said ther' mounting member;

and friction means including a flexible C-shaped spring clip detent housed in and carried by said hollow base and retained therein by a retaining washer to thereby define a directly acting yieldable connection between said adapter and said threaded mounting portion whereby the relative position between the tip of said thermocouple and the flame issuing from said burner is adjusted by sliding said thermocouple axially relative to said adapter with said friction means thereafter retaining said thermocouple in its adjusted position.

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